Shears.



D. & D. C. WHEELER.

SHEARS.

LPPLIOATION FILED 001228, 1909.

968,219. Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

DWIGHT WHEELER AND DAVID C. WHEELER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, AS'- SIGNORS T0 TI-IE ACME SI-IEAR COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SHEARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DWIGHT WHEELER and DAVID C. VHEELER, citizens of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Shears, of which the following is a specication.

This invention has for its object to provide shears adapted for general use and more especially household use, which shall be peculiarly easy to manipulate and may be used for a longer time and with less fatigue to the operator than the various styles of shears now in use. With these and other objects in view we have devised anovel form of shears diering from shears in general use in that the thumb bow is odset obliquely and lies in a plane at an angle of forty-live degrees, more or less, to the plane of the finger bow so that in inserting the thumb into the bow for use the thumb is not passed downward at an angle to the plane of the wrist as heretofore but is passed forward approximately in alinement with the wrist and after passing through the bow bears against the shank, which has been impossible in any shears heretofore produced so far as we are aware. lith these and other objects in view we have devised the novel shears of which the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing is a specification, reference characters being used to indicate the several parts.

Figure l is a plan view of a pair of shears, illustrating one form in which we have carried our invention into eect; Fig. 2 an edge view corresponding therewith; and Figs. 3 and 4 are edge views illustrating slightly variant forms of the invention.

10 denotes the blades of shears, ll the linger bow, l2 the finger bow shank, 13 the thumbbow and 14 the thumb bow shank. The blades, nger bow and Enger bow shank may be of the ordinary or any preferred construction, the gist of the present invention lying in placing the thumb bow at an angle to the finger bow, for example at an angle of fortyve degrees, more or less, thereto. This is accomplished by osetting the thumb bow and placing it at an angle to the thumb bow shank so that the general contour of the thumb bow shank and thumb bow in side elevation may be said to resemble an inverted U somewhat flattened out. In the form illustrated in Figs. l and 2, the thumb bow extends backward less than the finger bow, as shown approximately half as far, so that in use the bow does not pass over the base of the thumb as in ordinary shears and the power applied to operate the thumb bow is applied nearly transversely to the thumb and above the second joint of the thumb, the thumb lying closely in engagement with the shank of the thumb bow, which has not been possible in shears as heretofore constructed.

15 denotes a slightly curved arm extending rearwardly from the thumb bow which is preferably provided in this form and bears against the base ofthe thumb, that is below the second joint. This gives an additional bearing upon the hand and aids in steadying the shears although it should be understood that the arm is not an essential feature of construction.

The form illustrated in Fig. 3 differs from the form just described in that the thumb bow extends backward practically as far as the finger bow and the angle of inclination of the thumb bow to the finger bow is not as great as in the other form. The bearing of the thumb upon the bow in the second form is lower down, the thumb passing farther through the bow but bearing against the shank the same as before.

In the form illustrated in Fig. 4:, the thumb bow extends backward nearly as far as the finger bow and the angle of the thumb bow relatively to the finger bow is approximately the same as in Fig. 3. The thumb bow shank in this form is approximately S-shape. It first extends downward below the plane of the finger bow, then recurves upward substantially as in the other forms, the bearing of the thumb upon the thumb bow and upon the thumb bow shank being substantially as in Fig. 3. It will of course be understood that the special location of the oset thumb bow and its angle of inclination relatively to the finger bow are not of the essence of the invention but may be varied to meet the special requirements of the trade or the taste of the manufacturer without departing from the principle of the ng arranged at an angle to the thumb boW invention. Shank.

Having thus described our invention we In testimony whereof we aiix our Signaelann: tures, 1n presence of two Witnesses. 5 An improvement 1n Shears comprising a DVIGHT XVHEELER lino' v inteor h n l `n in nel b0\ :D al Vlt O e l) ade a d. C.

the Seme plane therewith, and a thumb bow provided with an integral thumb bow shank, Titnessesr Suid shank beinginclined relative to the M. G. MARKS, 10 plane of the blade7 und said thumb bow be- VINCENT HAGGERTY. 

